Form in the Foam

Sometimes the most unlikely subjects make for intriguing images.

I recently made this photograph near a tidal sluice in the waters of the Gulf of Morbihan in southern Brittany. Although it looks like pollution, this sea foam is the naturally occurring result of the agitation of seawater that contains high concentrations of dissolved organic matter, notably algae.

I am a great admirer of the early 20th century American photographer, Edward Weston. And I love his observation: “Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual.”

Weston is most frequently categorised as a ‘Modernist’. He was certainly a key figure in the global movement in society and culture that, from the early decades of the last century, sought a new alignment with the experience and values of industrial life. This meant a move away from the pictorialist traditions that had dominated 19th century art and towards the embrace of the everyday - not least in terms of line, form and movement.

I like this image of sea foam because I think it can been seen on several levels: perhaps just an image of sea foam surrounding a mooring buoy, or perhaps a whole landscape of hills and valleys with a single path heading for a mountainous summit, or even the evocation of the view from an aeroplane window at 38,000 feet.

I do not claim this to be an ‘Edward Weston’! But I do feel that his hand was on my shoulder the morning I made this image. I have now printed it and propped it up in front of my desk. It continues to draw me in - I think a study in simplicity that I find personally satisfying.